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50 worst movie remakes

50 worst movie remakes

While Hollywood remakes are certainly nothing new, moviegoers might be surprised to discover the tradition dates back to 1904. That was when director Siegmund Lubin released his own take on the seminal short film "The Great Train Robbery" from the previous year. Featuring the same title and plot, Lubin injected a little more violence and style into his version. He also evaded a newly implemented copyright law in order to make as much profit as possible. Robbery, indeed.

Intellectual property laws have changed in the time since, but the Hollywood remake most definitely endures. Sometimes, filmmakers are motivated by a genuine desire to update a classic story for modern audiences. In other scenarios, the remake is little more than a shameless cash grab or uninspired retread into formulaic territory.

Enter the 50 worst remakes of all time. For the list, Stacker ranked each film according to its IMDb rating. In the case of a rating tie, the total number of user votes was taken into consideration. Counting down from bad to really bad, here are the 50 worst remakes of all time.

#50. House on Haunted Hill (1999)

User Rating: 5.6
Director: William Malone

Starring horror legend Vincent Price, the original "House on Haunted Hill" is considered a gloriously campy thrill ride. By contrast, critics found this 1999 remake a joyless exercise in generic jump scares and R-rated gore. Both versions feature a classic premise, in which a man promises a group of strangers a small fortune should they make it through the night in a supposedly haunted house.

3/Touchstone Pictures

#49. Dark Water (2005)

IMDb user rating: 5.6
Director: Walter Salles

By 2005, Hollywood was in the middle of a Japanese horror film craze. Enter this remake, about a mother (Jennifer Connelly) and daughter who square off against a vengeful ghost inside a rundown apartment building. As in the original, which was based on a short story, the ghost frequently manifests itself by way of leaky water.

4/Paramount Pictures

#48. Friday the 13th (2009)

User Rating: 5.6
Director: Marcus Nispel

Despite lackluster reviews, the 1980 slasher flick "Friday the 13th" spawned an iconic and seemingly endless franchise. In 2009, Hollywood tried to start things all over again with this reboot. Unlike the original—which didn't actually feature Jason Voorhees as the killer—the newer version dutifully unleashed the hockey-masked maniac upon a group of unwitting campers.

5/Imagine Entertainment

#47. The Nutty Professor (1996)

User Rating: 5.6
Director: Tom Shadyac

Jerry Lewis struck comedy gold with the original "The Nutty Professor," about a nerdy scientist who becomes a suave ladykiller with help from a powerful potion. Eddie Murphy tackled the lead role three decades later, swapping Lewis' dweeby Julius Kelp for an overweight professor named Sherman Klump. IMDb voters might not look too kindly upon the remake, but it was a major hit in its day.

6/Twentieth Century Fox

#46. Nine Months (1995)

User Rating: 5.5
Director: Chris Columbus

Just one year after its release, the French comedy "Neuf mois" received the Hollywood treatment. The result was "Nine Months," in which a commitment-phobic man grapples with his girlfriend's pregnancy. According to some critics, stars Hugh Grant and Julianne Moore fail to elevate a dull and tiresome script.

7/Twentieth Century Fox

#45. The Omen (2006)

User Rating: 5.5
Director: John Moore

1976's "The Omen" endures as a horror classic about an American ambassador (Gregory Peck) whose adopted son might very well be the Antichrist. The 2006 remake is so faithful to the original plot that most critics couldn't understand why it was made at all.

8/Twentieth Century Fox

#44. The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008)

User Rating: 5.5
Director: Scott Derrickson

In 1951's "The Day the Earth Stood Still," an alien and his destructive robot threaten to annihilate Earth unless humans can all get along. Released in the midst of The Cold War, the sci-fi classic confronted its viewers with a range of prescient themes. This 2008 remake tries to capture the same lightning in a bottle, but critics found it sterile by comparison.

9/BloodWorks

#43. 2001 Maniacs (2005)

User Rating: 5.4
Director: Tim Sullivan

The original "Two Thousand Maniacs!" came out in 1964 and aimed squarely for the drive-in circuit, pairing dark comedy with grindhouse terror. This 2005 remake touts a similar comic sensibility, even as it delivers brutal violence and buckets of gore. Starring horror mainstay Robert Englund, the film finds a group of tourists being terrorized in a remote Southern town.

10/Paramount Pictures

#42. The Out-of-Towners (1999)

User Rating: 5.4
Director: Sam Weisman

Award-winning playwright Neil Simon penned the original script for 1970's "The Out-of-Towners," about an Ohio couple who encounter a range of misadventures while visiting New York City. This 1999 remake puts stars Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn through the wringer, as they likewise struggle through their trip to the Big Apple. The film bombed at the box office and earned a lashing from the critics.

11/ABC Productions

#41. Diabolique (1996)

User Rating: 5.4
Director: Jeremiah S. Chechik

Actress Sharon Stone was on top of the world when she headlined this latter-day remake of the famous 1955 French thriller, "Les diaboliques" (also known as "Diabolique"). In both films, the wife and the mistress of a sadistic school administrator team up to plot and execute his murder. The remake branches off on its own in the third act, though audiences and critics alike felt the new ending was just one of its numerous travesties.

12/Summit Entertainment

#40. Robin Hood (2018)

User Rating: 5.4
Director: Otto Bathurst

The story of Robin Hood has been remade so many times that it takes an impressive amount of ineptitude to rank as one of the worst adaptations. Up to the task is this 2018 version, which stars Taron Egerton as the righteous crusader. Critics called it "slow," "silly," and a "garbled, hollow mess."

13/3 Arts Entertainment

#39. Down to Earth (2001)

User Rating: 5.4
Director: Chris Weitz

An old play called "Heaven Can Wait" became three separate Hollywood films, including this 2001 version starring Chris Rock. In the movie, a stand-up comic (Rock) dies prematurely and then returns to Earth in the form of a white millionaire. Not only does the film feature a recycled premise, but Chris Rock even reuses old jokes.

14/Lionsgate

#38. The Eye (2008)

User Rating: 5.4
Director: David Moreau

An iconic Cantonese horror franchise was remade for American audiences in 2008, only to be panned across the board. It stars Jessica Alba as a blind violinist, who receives an eye transplant and then gains visual access to a supernatural realm. This was not the first adaptation, as the film had been previously remade twice in India.

15/Initial Entertainment Group (IEG)

#37. Bangkok Dangerous (2008)

User Rating: 5.4
Directors: Danny Pang and Oxide Pang Chun

Directing duo The Pang Brothers remade their own film when they released this 2008 turkey, in which a hitman (Nicolas Cage) goes to Bangkok for a series of jobs. The original version won a filmmaking award at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2000. The remake opened to overwhelmingly negative reviews before ultimately tanking at the box office.

16/FilmDistrict

#36. Red Dawn (2012)

User Rating: 5.4
Director: Dan Bradley

In the original "Red Dawn," a group of small-town teenagers (including Patrick Swayze) band together to stave off a Russian invasion. Despite mixed reviews, the 1984 film was considered a box office success. Replacing Russia with North Korea, the 2012 remake was a failure critically and commercially.

17/Universal Pictures

#35. The Wiz (1978)

User Rating: 5.3
Director: Sidney Lumet

As one of the most iconic films of all time, 1939's "The Wizard of Oz" paved the way for numerous sequels, spin-offs, and reimaginings. Among the follow-ups is this musical version from 1978, which stars a slew of big names from the world of R&B (including Diana Ross and Michael Jackson). While the movie famously underperformed upon its initial release, it's also considered something of a cult classic.

18/Marcy Media

#34. Annie (2014)

User Rating: 5.3
Director: Will Gluck

A once-popular comic strip called "Little Orphan Annie" has produced a slew of adaptations, including this 2014 musical. In the film, a young girl from the foster care system falls under the care of a wealthy businessman (Jamie Foxx). Previous adaptations take place during the Depression era, but this one uses modern-day New York as its backdrop.

19/Alcon Entertainment

#33. Point Break (2015)

User Rating: 5.3
Director: Ericson Core

Directed by Kathryn Bigelow, 1991's "Point Break“ is considered an action classic. Starring Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze, it follows an FBI agent (Reeves) as he penetrates the world of surfing in pursuit of bank robbers. By taking that premise into the world of extreme sports, this pointless remake eschews aesthetics in favor of stunts, according to most reviews.

20/Paramount Pictures

#32. The Stepford Wives (2004)

User Rating: 5.3
Director: Frank Oz

Based on a novel by Ira Levin, 1975's "The Stepford Wives" is considered a landmark film for its deft combination of horror and satire. It takes place in what seems to be an idyllic town, where the women are just a little too perfect. Aiming for straight comedy, the 2004 remake from Frank Oz was a disaster in every sense of the word.

21/Warner Bros.

#31. House of Wax (2005)

User Rating: 5.3
Director: Jaume Collet-Serra

A 1933 film called "Mystery of the Wax Museum" was reimagined in 1955 as a horror classic starring Vincent Price. Loosely adapting the 1955 version, this 2005 remake finds six friends fighting for survival inside a wax museum. One of those friends is played by famous socialite and reality star Paris Hilton, and things only get worse from there.

22/Warner Bros.

#30. Fathers' Day (1997)

User Rating: 5.2
Director: Ivan Reitman

Robin Williams and Billy Crystal were two of the biggest names in comedy when they teamed up for this 1997 remake of the French film "Les compères." Despite all that built-in star power, the remake bombed at the box office and earned a bevy of negative reactions. In both versions, a woman convinces two men that they're each the father of her child.

23/Priority Pictures

#29. And Soon the Darkness (2010)

User Rating: 5.2
Director: Marcos Efron

This relatively obscure thriller remakes a 1970 British film of the same name. It stars Amber Heard as a woman named Stephanie, who must rescue her kidnapped friend in a remote part of Argentina. Helping her along the way is Michael (Karl Urban), a fellow American whose girlfriend was also kidnapped.

24/Summit Entertainment

#28. Sorority Row (2009)

User Rating: 5.2
Director: Stewart Hendler

The 1980 cult hit "The House on Sorority Row" was reimagined in 2009, resulting in this contrived slasher flick. The movie centers on a group of sorority sisters who accidentally kill one of their own during an ill-conceived prank. As the sisters try to cover their tracks, a serial killer hunts them down one by one.

#26. Flubber (1997)

User Rating: 5.2
Director: Les Mayfield

Movie legend John Hughes co-wrote the script for this remake of 1961's "The Absent Minded Professor." It stars Robin Williams as Professor Philip Brainard, who discovers a strange gravity-defying substance known as Flubber. Both films were big hits for Disney Studios, though the remake is generally considered a senseless misfire.

27/New Line Cinema

#25. A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)

User Rating: 5.2
Director: Samuel Bayer

Thanks to its creative premise and unforgettable villain, Wes Craven's "A Nightmare on Elm Street" helped redefine the horror genre upon its 1984 release. The graphic exploits of Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) would ultimately spawn merchandise, a video game, a hit song, a TV series, and a number of sequels. Jackie Earle Haley tackled the role of Krueger for this 2010 reboot, a movie straight out of most critics' worst nightmares.

28/Millennium Films

#24. Conan the Barbarian (2011)

User Rating: 5.2
Director: Marcus Nispel

Directed by John Milius and co-written by Oliver Stone, the original "Conan the Barbarian" was an ultraviolent fantasy film that helped turn Arnold Schwarzenegger into a movie star. It was followed by a sequel and then this remake in 2011. Featuring Jason Momoa in the title role, the remake bombed at the box office and killed any franchise potential dead in its tracks.

29/Walt Disney Pictures

#23. Jungle 2 Jungle (1997)

User Rating: 5.1
Director: John Pasquin

The 1994 French film "Un indien dans la ville" translates to "Little Indian, Big City" and finds a tribal teenager discovering city life for the first time. Along similar lines, this 1997 remake follows a businessman (Tim Allen) into the real jungle and then back to the urban one with his Amazonian son in tow. Both films stick to the same general storyline while taking place in different cities (Paris and New York, respectively).

30/Morgan Creek Entertainment

#22. Get Carter (2000)

User Rating: 5.1
Director: Stephen Kay

1971's "Get Carter" is a gritty revenge tale starring Michael Caine as ruthless British gangster Jack Carter, who travels to Newcastle to investigate his brother's death. More than an influential work, the movie has been touted as one of the best ever made by the likes of Empire Magazine and The Guardian. Caine actually appears alongside lead actor Sylvester Stallone in this 2000 remake, a critical and financial disaster that takes place primarily in Seattle.

31/Screen Gems

#21. When a Stranger Calls (2006)

User Rating: 5.1
Director: Simon West

An extended opening sequence—during which a psychopath terrorizes a babysitter over the phone—helped cement 1979's “When a Stranger Calls" in popular imagination. As it famously turns out, the psychopath is calling from inside the house. Expanding upon that 20-minute opening is this 2006 remake, which confines the terror to a single night.

32/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

#20. Fame (2009)

User Rating: 5.0
Director: Fame

Depicting the lives of various students at New York's High School of Performing Arts, 1980's "Fame" comes bolstered by uncompromising drama and an iconic soundtrack. It was followed by multiple adaptations for both the stage and small screen, and then this 2009 remake. Critics like Roger Ebert dinged the movie for missing the original's magic with "sanitized and dumbed down" material for a "hypothetical teen market."

33/New Line Cinema

#19. The Bachelor (1999)

User Rating: 5.0
Director: Gary Sinyor

A timeless silent film from Buster Keaton inspired this 1999 remake, about a perennial bachelor (Chris O'Donnell) who must find a bride if he wants to inherit his grandfather's fortune. Along with its relatively poor IMDb rating is a downright paltry Rotten Tomatoes score of 9%.

34/Picturehouse

#18. The Women (2008)

User Rating: 4.9
Director: Diane English

In a testament to the power of female talent, 1939's "The Women" stars an A-list cast of actresses and doesn't feature a single adult male. Taking direct cues from the original film (as well as the play before it), this 2009 remake likewise hosts a range of big-name actresses and not a single grown man. There was just one problem: it forgot to be fun, according to numerous critics.

35/Screen Gems

#17. The Roommate (2011)

User Rating: 4.9
Director: Christian E. Christiansen

Inspired by the 1992 thriller "Single White Female," this 2011 remake sets the action on a college campus. It's here that a freshman named Sara (Minka Kelly) finds out her seemingly cool roommate (Leighton Meester) is actually a crazed psychopath.

36/Fox 2000 Pictures

#16. Poltergeist (2015)

User Rating: 4.9
Director: Gil Kenan

While the debate as to who actually directed the original “Poltergeist" rages on, its status as a horror classic remains steady. The same cannot be said for the 2015 remake, in which a suburban family is once again haunted by evil spirits.

37/Twentieth Century Fox

#15. Gulliver's Travels (2010)

User Rating: 4.9
Director: Rob Letterman

Jonathan Swift's clever satire about a traveling writer has inspired numerous film adaptations, including this one from 2010. This modernized retelling follows Lemuel Gulliver (Jack Black) to the island of Lilliput, where he literally towers over the locals.

38/Black Bear Pictures

#14. Knock Knock (2015)

User Rating: 4.9
Director: Eli Roth

The obscure 1977 thriller "Death Game" wasn't exactly screaming out for a remake, but Eli Roth adapted it anyway. The result was this 2015 horror film, in which a devoted father and husband (Keanu Reeves) has his life violently uprooted by two unexpected female visitors.

39/DreamWorks

#13. The Haunting (1999)

User Rating: 4.9
Director: Jan de Bont

Author Shirley Jackson's "The Haunting of Hill House" is widely considered one of the greatest horror novels of the 20th century. It's then no surprise that there have been a handful of adaptations, including an acclaimed Netflix series as well as this panned 1999 remake. In the movie, a team of paranormal experts encounters ghostly spirits inside a haunted mansion.

40/The Weinstein Company

#12. Pulse (2006)

User Rating: 4.7
Director: Jim Sonzero

At the height of the Japanese horror craze came this American remake, about a wireless signal that threatens to take over the world. The original was known for its distinctive atmosphere and creepy style, while this version was critically reviled.

#10. Psycho (1998)

User Rating: 4.6
Director: Gus Van Sant

As most cinephiles can attest, Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" is arguably the most influential slasher film ever made. Director Gus Van Sant was such a fan that he helmed a shot-for-shot remake starring Vince Vaughn as Norman Bates. It doesn't have the best reputation.

43/Twentieth Century Fox

#9. Taxi (2004)

User Rating: 4.5
Director: Tim Story

Filmmaker Luc Besson wrote the original script for the 1999 French comedy "Taxi," in which a cab driver and police inspector chase down bank robbers. This 2004 remake sets the story in New York and pairs Queen Latifah with Jimmy Fallon. In the words of film critic Roger Ebert, the movie only "gets worse as it plows along."

44/Walt Disney Pictures

#8. The Shaggy Dog (2006)

User Rating: 4.4
Director: Brian Robbins

1959's "The Shaggy Dog" was a game-changer for Disney Studios, setting the template for two decades' worth of live-action family fare. In the film, a teenage boy transforms into a sheepdog at the worst of times. In this 2006 version, it's a businessman (Tim Allen) who struggles to keep it together while occasionally turning into a shaggy dog.

45/Double Feature Films

#7. LOL (2012)

User Rating: 4.4
Director: Lisa Azuelos

Miley Cyrus stars in "LOL," a romantic comedy based on a 2008 French film of the same name. Against a backdrop of video streaming and omnipresent social media, Cyrus' character navigates the complex world of modern romance. Literally and figuratively, audiences weren't buying it.

46/Screen Gems

#6. Prom Night (2008)

User Rating: 3.9
Director: Nelson McCormick

Soon after starring in "Halloween," scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis headlined the original "Prom Night." The Canadian slasher flick was a modest hit that ended up spawning a sequel. This PG-13 remake similarly finds a bunch of girls being terrorized before their senior prom.

47/Warner Bros.

#5. The Wicker Man (2006)

User Rating: 3.7
Director: Neil LaBute

One of the most infamous remakes of all time is this critical dud from 2006. It follows a sheriff (Nicolas Cage) as he visits an island community to investigate the disappearance of a young girl, only to uncover a much broader conspiracy.

48/Screen Gems

#4. Swept Away (2002)

User Rating: 3.6
Director: Guy Ritchie

Italian filmmaker Lina Wertmüller unleashed a string of cinematic gems in the 1970s, including the original "Swept Away." It centers on the romance between a wealthy socialite and communist sailor, who get stranded together on a remote island. Guy Ritchie directed his then-wife Madonna in the notorious 2002 remake, which didn't even crack a million dollars at the domestic box office.

49/Revolution Studios

#3. The Fog (2005)

User Rating: 3.6

Director: Rupert Wainwright

Reteaming "Halloween" director John Carpenter with actress Jamie Lee Curtis, 1980's "The Fog" finds ancient ghosts descending upon a small town. The universally despised PG-13 remake couldn't live up to its predecessor.

50/Polygram Filmed Entertainment

#2. Barb Wire (1996)

User Rating: 3.2
Director: David Hogan

While technically based on a comic book, 1996's "Barb Wire" is also a sort-of remake of 1942's "Casablanca." Stepping into Humphrey Bogart's shoes is former "Baywatch" star Pamela Anderson, whose character runs a futuristic nightclub during the Second American Civil War of 2017.

51/YouTube

#1. Rollerball (2002)

User Rating: 3.0
Director: John McTiernan

The original "Rollerball" might have centered on a futuristic bloodsport, but it was ultimately a scathing depiction of corporate culture. The 2002 remake presents the same brutal sport, but audiences found it lacking all the poignant satire and subtext.